The Lives That We've Lost
by SAR132-4
Summary: Three siblings lose their homes in a Fire Nation attack, forcing them to leave their home and family behind and seek the safety of Ba Sing Se's walls. They travel as refugees in a dangerous world. OC, now featuring the Kyoshi Warriors.
1. Cast Out

**Hello! This is my first fiction for Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm not 100% comfortable with the whole "In Character" thing yet, but there will be canonical characters in this fiction, don't you worry! (Just not right now . . . if you want to see characters, check back around chapter 3-4 and probably around 7 when they're posted). "Prayer of the Refugee" is a song by Rise Against and my inspiration. **

It was a peaceful village, tiny huts made of earth with thatched roofs stood in neat rows of two, transected by a lone road that stretched for miles in either direction. Farmland surrounded this tiny village and workers toiled in the sun as it reached its zenith, sweat dripping from their brows. Traders traveled up the main road, bartering with merchants and buying supplies for their next leg of their journey to the capitol.

Little kids ran up and down the streets, playing around as their parents bought food and supplies for the next week. One of these little kids stood in one of the empty fields, just out of the village proper, a group of other children, some older, some younger, stood in a semi-circle around him.

"Come on Kunwei!" an older, chubby boy shouted from the crowd, "Do some earthbending!"

His yell was greeted by other shouts of encouragement, most of the kids in the village were not earthbenders, and they had yet to see one older than eighteen. Kunwei was the youngest one in the village and with no proper teacher he had no clue what his powers could do.

"Alright!" Kunwei shouted loud enough for his peers to hear over their clamor, "Here it goes!"

He took up a stance he had seen from a earthbending scroll a kind trader had let him see and then sent a small boulder into the air, it traveled a few feet and landed with a thud on the grass. Kunwei panted a little after that, he had yet to learn the stamina and discipline needed to accomplish bending.

"That was awesome big brother!" a girl spoke up as she ran up and hugged Kunwei.

"Err, thanks," he replied as he saw all the other kids leave the area, except one who was walking towards them with a stony face.

"Hey Gang Chao," Kunwei said as he saw his older brother walking up, Gang Chao was tall, around six feet and he was the oldest sibling in the family, almost seventeen. He loomed over the two as he recited what their father had told him.

"Father wants to get back to the farm, come on, we need to go," he said as he picked up the sister, who squealed in amusement as she got a piggyback ride. Kunwei nodded and obediently followed his brother, "And Kunwei . . ." he said as he looked forward, hiding his face from the younger brother.

Kunwei looked up, "Yes brother?"

"I'll find an earthbending master for you, I promise," he said as he glanced back at his younger brother, a small smile on his face.

Kunwei smiled and ran to catch up with his brother's long strides, they reached the village where a crowd had gathered at the center, where town meeting were usually held. A man in black and red armor stood tall and imposing in front of the village elder and another man who looked to be a farmer.

The soldier in black armor had dark brown sideburns that knifed down his face and gave his face a ghastly skull like appearance. At his side were two men who wore masks that gave them the appearance of a skeleton.

"Fire Nation," Kunwei breathed and he ran up behind his brother and gripped onto his tunic.

Gang Chao glanced down at the little kid and then returned to look at the spectacle happening center stage. The little sister was forgotten momentarily as she clung to his back.

"Your village is in a location where many iron mines are. We ask for your surrender," the soldier said severely, "or else we'll burn this village to the ground with you in it. I'm very sure some of you don't deserve to die," he shot a meaningful glance at some of the toddlers who gathered around their mothers.

The village elder was adamant, "As long as the walls of Ba Sing Se stand, we will never surrender."

"Leave us, now," the farmer replied, his brown eyes glinting in anger.

His declaration was met by a smirk from the soldier, "I expected much," he said dangerously, he turned around and marched out with his soldiers, "Your loss."

The farmer who stood by the chief glanced over at the three siblings, "Gang Chao, get your brother and sister back home, I'll meet you in a little bit."

"Yes father," Gang Chao replied and he lowered his sister to the ground, "Come on, let's get back."

"You don't think the Fire Nation will really burn us all . . . will they?" Kunwei asked as they made their way to the farm, his brown eyes shined with worry as he fingered the frayed hem of his dirty tunic.

Gang Chao was silent for a moment before saying, "The Fire Nation are scum, they don't care about anyone else and that includes their lives. But I'm confident that dad and Chief Heng will manage to defend our village."

"B-but they looked so _scary_," the girl piped up, "I don't want to see them again."

Gang Chao gave her a reassuring smile, "I'll never let them get to you Yinling, not now, not ever," he reached down with a callused hand and ruffled her long brown hair, she growled at that act of condescension.

They walked up the long, dusty road to the farm, the place was in good repair, large fields filled with crops surrounded a small house made of clay bricks and wood shingles. Pig cows, pickens, wooly-pigs and pigsters were held in large pens, their cacophony of sounds met the trio as they walked to the house.

"Kunwei, would you mind feeding them please?" Gang Chao asked as they entered the house, "Quickly now, before dinner."

Kunwei nodded and ran off to do so, he went into the barn and got out the animal feed, placing it in troughs designated for each animal pen. The slop smelled disgusting to him but apparently the hybrid pigs liked it because they ate the mixture with gusto.

While the pigs were eating their dinner, the young boy went to the hay bales and began pitching piles of the grasses into pens, he leaned on the pitchfork when he was done, pleased with his work. He brushed the hay out of his long, black hair and put the pitchfork back in its spot.

As Kunwei left the barn, he saw Gang Chao drawing water from the well, Yinling was helping him with the buckets. Then he heard voices from the path up to the house, he looked in the fading light as his father and a merchant came up the path.

"I'm very sorry to hear about what happened to your cabbages in Omashu sir," his father said as they got within sight of the house, "I'm fairly sure we can supply you with more, we can discuss payment over dinner."

The old merchant nodded tiredly, "That would be nice," he said with a smile, "I would have gotten a good sale in if it weren't for the young man with the arrow on his head and a diabolical stone sled," the smile quickly disappeared.

The father had to suppress a chuckle, he paused thoughtfully, "A young man with an arrow on his head? You don't say . . ."

Kunwei had heard stories about the Avatar from all the merchants and travelers who made their way through the small village, he felt a smile tug at his face. So the world had hope after all, maybe the Avatar could save their village from the Fire Nation, if and when they attacked.

"Yeah, well at least Omashu paid me for damages," the merchant beamed, "Now what kind of cabbages do you have available?"

"Come to our store room," the father waved him to the building to the right of the barn, he spotted Kunwei, "Ah, son. Why don't you go and tell your brother and sister that we'll have a guest for dinner?"

"Yes sir," Kunwei responded, he ran to the house and opened the door, "Brother, dad says we have a guest for dinner tonight."

Gang Chao nodded, "Wash up for the guest, you look like you've wrestled a pig cow . . . smell like it too," he wrinkled his nose a little, Yinling sniffed the air like she smelled something bad.

"You smell worse than an ostrich-horse," she said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, Kunwei smiled a little as he went out to the well and washed up with a bucket of water.

* * *

"Thank you for the offer," Kunwei's father said as he shook hands with the cabbage merchant, the merchant just gave him a toothy grin.

He chuckled, "No sir, thank _you_ for the cabbages! I hope the amount I paid was sufficient enough."

The father nodded, "Yes it was, it was very generous of you," he replied as he stared at the gold in his hands, it was enough to pay for the next month. He pocketed it and said, "Why don't you stay the night, sir?"

The beaming merchant only shook his head, "I better be going, my luck doesn't hold if I stay in any place for longer than a day. There's a village just up the road with an inn, I'll be fine," and with that, the merchant left the farm.

Kunwei watched the exchange, "Why didn't he want to stay dad? Isn't it rude to turn down an invitation?"

"Well, Kunwei, it is also rude to talk about people behind their backs," his father replied, "Whatever the reason he decided to leave after dark is his own. Now, clean up and get ready for bed my Pebble," he ruffled Kunwei's hair as he left to wash up.

The boy smiled as he saw the silhouette of his father make its way towards the well, Kunwei walked into the house and got into his sleeping clothes, which was basically another tunic and loose pants, then he laid down on his mat, pulling the blanket over him and falling into a deep, restful sleep.

* * *

Screams, yells, shouts. They all penetrated Kunwei's happy dreams, he felt himself being forcefully shaken from his slumber, he opened his eyes slowly and closed them as something thick stung them.

His sense of smell quickly caught up with his groggy brain, smoke, the thick blanket choking his senses was smoke.

"Kunwei! Wake up!" Gang Chao's voice ordered him in a muffled shout, "Get up or I'll have to drag you out of here!"

This got his attention, the boy rose from the bed quickly, "Brother! What's going on?" his frantic questioning had caused his mouth and lungs to fill with smoke, resulting in a coughing fit. He felt a wet cloth clamp itself over his mouth and nose.

"Breathe through this," Gang Chao said through his own cloth, it explained why the voice sounded so muffled, "The Fire Nation are attacking. Quickly now, we have to go!"

"But my shoes! My clothes!" Kunwei protested, he looked around in fear at his small room with all its belongings. He'd have to leave them behind?

Gang Chao dragged him out of the room, "There's no time for that Kunwei, we have to leave _now_."

They ran outside to where twenty or so villagers had arrived, almost all of them were men but there were two or three women with their children. All of them were covered in soot and minor burns, the village elder was nowhere to be seen. Kunwei saw the reason behind the smoke, the fields were burning, with bright red fires that engulfed the once green bounty.

"They attacked us in the middle of the night, those scum," one of the men said, his hands were balled up into fists that shook with rage.

Another one, who carried a pitchfork, joined in, "They most likely have killed our chief," he said harshly as he hefted the weapon, "Let's show them our village won't be taken quietly!"

A lot of the men gathered there yelled in unison, except for Kunwei's father, "I'd advise we escape, and quickly, before they find us. We can go to the next village for help."

"No! I'm tired of living under fear, we'll live free or die trying," the villager yelled as he hefted his pitchfork into the air, "And if you won't join us, then we'll have to force you."

The father glared, "What are you saying Huang? That you'll attack me, a defenseless man of your own country, to kill yourself in a stupid conquest?"

"You aren't _entirely_ defenseless," Huang sneered, showing a lot of missing teeth, "Your son can earthbend."

Kunwei was suddenly standing in a circle of villagers as they stared down at him, Gang Chao bristled but his father stood in front of the terrified boy, "No," he said evenly, "You will not drag my son into this mess, he barely knows the art. Out there he'll do more harm than good . . ." his shoulders sagged a little, "I'll fight for the village, just don't take him."

Huang nodded, "Then let's go," he said coldly as he nodded to the rest of the men, "Women and children will be left behind."

As the men marched out, the father knelt down to Kunwei and Yinling, "I love you both more than all the stars in the sky and all the rocks on the earth. Be strong my pebble and my shining star," he stood up and looked at Gang Chao.

"Father! I can fight!" Gang Chao began, his hands balling into tight fists, his knuckles cracked, "Just let me fight in your stead!"

"No son," his father replied forcefully, "you need to help your brother, sister and the rest of the villagers escape. Take the path to the river and head upstream until you get to Tu Zin, there should be a road headed towards Ba Sing Se from there."

Gang Chao nodded, "I'll miss you father," he said as he grasped his father into a firm hug, "Please be okay, please come back."

The man did not respond as he picked up his own weapons and left with the other men, Gang Chao quickly went to the house and grabbed a small pack, he tossed it to Kunwei, "Put it on," he said as he went back into the house and donned his own sack, he exited the house and saw what remained of the villagers standing there.

"Come on! We need to go!" Gang Chao said as he pointed to the path that would take them to the river and to safety.

The villagers seemed unsure, "My husband said to stay here," one of the women said, "I'm not leaving until he comes back," she hugged her children closer.

"Are you all stupid? The Fire Nation's going to kill all of us!" Kunwei shouted as he glanced fearfully at the burning fields.

"Kunwei!" Gang Chao's voice snapped and he glared coldly at the boy, "Let's go," he said and left, his hand grasping Yinling's. He heard Kunwei's last desperate plea for the other villagers to join them before he heard the scuttle of footsteps behind him, notifying the eldest brother that his brother had joined him.

Gang Chao closed his eyes as he walked down to the river, he hoped the darkness would hide the tears that threatened to roll down his face. Where they were going wouldn't be a place for tears or crying.

**Hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter coming soon, after I study for World History (and I've seen the name "Gyatso" in the textbook . . . along with other Avatar names, it's kind of awesome). Thank you to WindSurf for helping me gain the sufficient amount of confidence to post this fiction. I will probably write faster if you give me reviews for motivation, but it's okay, I usually check the "hits" page anyway. **


	2. Sanctuary

The night was dark and cold, with only the pale light of the stars offering only the faintest bit of comfort. Kunwei shivered as they walked further upstream, away from the village and their home. His breath came out in clouds of condensed water vapor as the night grew colder. It _was_ early spring after all, it explained the chilly temperatures.

Yinling sniffled as they walked further and further, "I'm scared," she said quietly, tears tracing down her eyes, "Where's dad?"

Gang Chao didn't answer her, he just walked ahead, his head bowed, shoulders hunched. Kunwei stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about something for a few seconds, then looking back from where they came, "I think we should head back," he said suddenly.

His older brother paused for a second, then kept walking, "No," the reply was abrupt and emotionless, "We have to keep going."

"But dad could be back there!" Kunwei argued, motioning with his hands in the direction they came from, "They could have defeated the Fire Nation!"

Gang Chao kept walking, "We can't turn back now Kunwei, if father survived, he'll come find us," he said simply, his tone was stoic, yet his body language told a different story. Had Kunwei seen him in the sunlight and not in the darkness of night, he would have seen a face etched with worry and fear. The teenager had an idea of what happened to his father, he just didn't have the heart to say it to his brother, "We've got to keep moving, the Fire Nation might be anywhere around here."

"But-," Kunwei began, fully ready to protest and argue for the sake of his father.

The silhouette of Gang Chao stopped and turned around abruptly, "Not another word, okay? We aren't going back, it's too dangerous and I promised father that I'd protect the two of you. We'll return after the war is over . . ." he said and added under his breath in a hopeless tone, "_If_ the war ever ends."

Kunwei was silent after that, the only sound that broke the silence was the crunch of feet on the rocky ground. He was thankful for the years of walking in no shoes, it toughened his feet up greatly, covering the soles in callouses and roughening the skin. Shoes were hardly necessary in the Earth Kingdom where being close to the earth was a way of life and he felt more powerful and in control of his earthbending when he was barefoot.

They continued upriver in the dark, once in a while Yinling would yawn or complain quietly about being tired, but they still pressed on until the sister sat down hard on the ground and refused to get up.

"I want a break! Now!" she whined, her voice was tremulous with the threat of crying.

Gang Chao sighed heavily and found a boulder where he could sit, Kunwei sat on the bank of the river, throwing rocks into it. Now that they stopped, they realized the sky had gotten noticeably lighter and the sounds of morning were greeting their ears. They sat for several minutes, the older brother passing around a water skin and allowing everyone to have a drink. The cool water quenched their thirst and moistened their dry mouths.

In the murky predawn light, they could see a lot more detail, namely the lack of substantial vegetation and the one or two forsaken structures on the side of the path, in serious disrepair. Gang Chao's eyes lit up in recognition, "We're almost there," he said, getting up quickly, "Let's go," he picked up Yinling and began walking, Kunwei walked close behind, "Once we get to the city, we can sleep."

"This place looks like no one's lived in it for years," Kunwei complained as he looked at the decrepit shacks and rotting pieces of lumber.

Gang Chao sighed, "That's because no one's lived here for years, Tu Zin is an abandoned mining town. We should be safe here and rest up before heading across the mountains to a village on the other side," he said, "I have a map in my pack, we'll check it once we get to the village."

They walked in silence again, this time for a shorter distance, Kunwei looked around at the empty village as they entered the main street, "This place gives me the creeps," he whispered as they walked through the vacant ruins.

Gang Chao nodded, "Me too, but there's no one here, no one wants to come to this place," he turned to a building and entered it, finding a slightly sheltered corner.

The three siblings sat down, taking a deep breath and letting their weariness set in, Yinling finally asked, "What happened?"

Gang Chao sighed as he pulled out his map, "Remember those people who came to our village a few weeks ago?"

Kunwei nodded, how could he not?

Weeks earlier . . .

_"Please, let us stay for a few days at the least," a haggard looking man pleaded with the village elder. _

_The old man shook his head and sighed, "I'm sorry, but we're struggling enough as is, we can give you provisions for the next leg of your journey. We can't let you stay here." _

_The man looked sadly at his wife and then down at his feet, "Yes, we understand and are grateful for any help you can give us." _

_Kunwei saw the sadness on the man's face and felt sympathy, he tugged on Gang Chao's sleeve, "Why can't we let them stay with us?"_

_Gang Chao shook his head, "They're refugees Kunwei, they'll be better off in Ba Sing Se than in this village. Far safer too," he said and he turned away to help his father carry the goods back to the farm, Kunwei looked towards the couple before running off after his brother. _

"So we're like that couple?" Kunwei asked uneasily, "Those . . . what were they called?"

"Refugees," Gang Chao said and sighed, "You better remember it too, because that's what we're going to be for a while," his voice turned acrid before glancing at his brother's worried face, "Come on," he said softly, "get some sleep. We have a long walk ahead of us tomorrow."

The teen looked down in his lap to see Yinling had already fallen into a deep sleep, her head resting on his lap. He glanced upwards to see Kunwei on the ground, his head resting on a pack, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling.

"Brother," Kunwei began tentatively, he avoided eye contact with his sibling though. He seemed to be worried about something, Gang Chao had an idea what.

"Hmm?" the older brother questioned as he leaned back into a comfortable position, "What's wrong?"

"What . . . what do you think happened to the village?" his small voice echoed through the abandoned town, "I mean, do you think the Fire Nation's taken it over?"

Though he hated to tell it straight, Gang Chao knew that telling a lie would hurt more in the end, "Yeah, I think they've taken the village," he said softly, staring up at the nonexistent ceiling and trying hard to keep from crying, '_You've got to be strong for them._' he kept repeating in his head.

"What do you think happened to everyone in it? Was that soldier really telling the truth that they'd burn everyone and everything down?" Kunwei's lower lip trembled at the thought of his friends and family dying in the Fire Nation attack.

"I don't think so, I mean, they need people to help work the mines and stuff," the older brother replied truthfully, "I know those Fire Nation scum wouldn't do all the menial labor on their own," he spat and finally calmed down enough to say, "I bet father is still alive and waiting out the war, just like we are."

"Should we go back then?" Kunwei asked, a large yawn threatening to launch him into the fretful sleep that people with a lot on their minds often suffered. His brown eyes peered tiredly at his brother.

"Father told us to keep moving towards Ba Sing Se until he came for us," the brother closed his eyes and said in the final moments before slumber, "So we'll keep moving forward. No matter what."

"No matter what," Kunwei repeated as his mind lapsed into unconsciousness.

**A little shorter, sorry, next chapter will be a bit longer. :) Please review! **


	3. Plains Village Pt 1

**Some (minor) canonical characters shall be introduced in this chapter. Takes place right after "Zuko Alone". I don't know how "in character" Gow or Lee are . . . then again, they only appeared in one episode, I'm doing the best I can.**

* * *

They woke at around noon, Kunwei rose from his slumber, feeling stiff and sore, he glanced at his surroundings and saw that Gang Chao was nowhere in sight, "Brother?" he called worriedly.

"I'm outside," the teen's deep voice responded.

Kunwei heard the crackling of fire and smelled smoke, he walked outside and saw Gang Chao cooking something on a small fire, he patted the ground next to him, "I want to show you something," he said as he spread the map of the Earth Kingdom on the ground, "We're right . . . here," he said, pointing to an area just in front of a large mountain range, "If we head over the mountains, we'll arrive at a place called Plains Village," he said as he traced a path through a mountain pass, "Then we can stay there for a few days before heading on the path to Ba Sing Se."

"But brother, why can't we just stay there until the war is over?" Kunwei asked, he was confused as to why the final destination of many refugees was the massive walled city.

Gang Chao sighed, "None of the villages are safe from the Fire Nation, Ba Sing Se is by far the safest and most secure location. Villages are also suffering from the war, just like we were, they will most likely not take us in, even though we are kids."

"Won't it be dangerous to walk all that way?" Kunwei's brown eyes reflected fear and trepidation, he played around with the hem of his tunic again.

The teenager looked at Kunwei, "Don't play around with your clothes, you'll wear them out that way," he said, gently taking Kunwei's hand off the hem, "I'll protect you, don't worry."

Kunwei drew his knees close to his body and rested his arms and chin on them, "Is there any way for me to learn earthbending now?"

The brother was silent for a moment, "Why don't you try what you know?"

"I don't know _anything_," Kunwei replied exasperated, "Only how to chuck rocks at people, and how helpful is that?"

"Well . . . maybe we can find a few teachers along the way who are willing to give you a few pointers," was the reply, "Just go practice what you know every day."

"Right . . ." Kunwei got up and dusted himself off, he looked for a suitable area in the main street, finding one that had plenty of space so he wouldn't accidentally launch a rock into where they were sleeping.

He took up the a stance and levitated a fist sized rock in the air before launching it at a building, it hit the wall and made a small hole in it, Kunwei scowled, he was aiming for the window 2 feet from the hole.

"Good shot," Gang Chao offered as he took the food off the fire, "Come on and eat, we need to leave soon."

Kunwei nodded and joined Gang Chao and Yinling at the fire, "I missed what I was aiming at, how is that a good shot?"

"You need to lower your expectations a little before we get to a teacher," Gang Chao said as he took a bite out of the meal he made, "Then you know what to do and how to do it."

Kunwei shrugged and ate his meal in silence, Yinling spoke up, "You were awesome Kunwei!" she said reverently, looking up at him with her big, brown eyes.

"Err, thanks," Kunwei replied before lapsing into silence, he wondered why he hadn't studied the scroll more closely, it would have been better than remaining almost completely uneducated.

They finished their meals and while Gang Chao doused the fire, Kunwei packed the bags and placed the lighter one on his back. Gang Chao walked into the building and grabbed the heavier one, "Ready?"

Kunwei and Yinling both nodded slowly, not exactly willing to walk further away from the place they once called home. Kunwei looked to the east, where they came from, hoping to find his father walking along the pathway, coming up to the trio and taking them into a big hug. He wanted his father to tell them that everything was going to be okay and that they were safe now.

No one came up the deserted path, Kunwei turned away and caught up with his brother who had already started walking to the west, towards their new life as refugees.

As they made their way towards the next village, the going got tougher and tougher. The once even and fairly clear and wide path began to get narrower, steeper and rockier. Kunwei tripped more than once on the baseball sized rocks that littered the ground and clattered down the steep hill as they were knocked loose. The path got even more treacherous as it wound its way through a pass, a steep drop off on one side, the unyielding walls of the mountain on the other. Kunwei began hugging the wall.

Yinling suddenly cried out as she stumbled on a large rock, she lost her balance and began to make her way closer and closer to the edge. Kunwei ran forward and grasped her flailing hands as she screamed in terror, they stopped with Kunwei leaning back with all his weight, pulling towards the mountain, Yinling was leaning away from Kunwei, her feet planted on the edge and hanging over the abyss.

With a mighty heave, the brother pulled his sister back onto the path and they both fell on the ground, gasping for air. Gang Chao looked back, saw their predicament, and made his way towards them, "Are you two okay?" he asked worriedly.

Kunwei nodded, and thanked his brother as he was handed a water skin.

"You guys need to be more careful on this path, I only hope we'll be off it soon," the teen replied as he began walking again, Kunwei and Yinling struggling to catch up.

They doggedly pushed their way through the steep mountain pass, reaching the highest point and walking down the long, winding path. If they had thought the uphill part was the hardest, they were sorely mistaken. Going down the path was a dangerous journey, filled with loose rocks, sudden scree slopes and landslides that blocked the path. It was obvious that the pass hadn't been used in a long while.

Finally, after long hours of treacherous travel, they reached the end of the pass, and a small village that was illuminated in the setting sun. The place looked run down and in dilapidated, yet not as vacant or decrepit as Tu Zin. People still roamed the four main streets and men stood in the single watch tower at the center of town.

They had reached Plains Village.

The half-hour walk to the village was easy compared to the treacherous pass, they were weary though and they trudged into town, Kunwei encouraging his sister to keep walking for just a little further. Finally, they reached the outer limits of the town, small wooden shacks and stalls lined the streets. Merchants watched warily as the three kids walked by, the trio made their way to one of the stalls.

Gang Chao reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins, "How much for water and food?"

The merchant counted the coins and went to the back of his shop, grabbing 3 meals and a few water skins, "This is the amount you paid for," the merchant said.

"Is there any place we can stay for the night?" the teen questioned.

The merchant shook his head, "Nope, sorry kid, the only inn in town's full of refugees. There's a barn a few minutes up the road if you want to try there," the merchant pointed up the street.

Suddenly they heard shouting, a man was harassing a young boy, "You know the 'tax', give us your food."

"No!" the boy yelled back.

"You don't have that Fire Nation prince to protect you," the man sneered, snatching the food from the kid's arms, "Thanks for your 'contribution'."

"I hate that prince, I don't need protection!" the kid kicked the soldier in the shin . . . hard.

The man's face paled in the dim light and he bellowed, "Why you little!" he pushed the kid to the ground and made to punch him, the kid clenched his eyes tight.

The punch never connected and the kid opened his eyes and saw Gang Chao gripping the soldier's raised fist, "I don't know about the laws of this village at all but _any_ citizen of the Earth Kingdom willing to punch a little kid is a criminal in my eyes."

The man sneered, "But I'm no citizen, I'm Gow an Earth Kingdom soldier. I can do whatever I want under the name of the Earth King, even if it means bending a few rules."

Gang Chao didn't back down, "A soldier's supposed to protect three things, his country, his honor and his people. Right now you're doing neither of them, which makes you a coward in armor, not a soldier."

"I'll have you pay for your back talk," Gow roared and launched an earth column, throwing Gang Chao back several feet. The teen landed several feet away on his back, hitting the ground hard.

"Brother!" Yinling yelled out of worry, she saw her brother's face contort in pain.

Kunwei said nothing, but his breathing got audibly louder. He saw nothing but Gow . . . and the rock that was conveniently placed in a perfect location to launch at Gow's face. The rock sailed through the air, hitting Gow on the head. Kunwei didn't need to aim this time, rage amplified his power.

Gang Chao saw something dark fly through the air at Gow, the corrupt soldier recoiled instantly and crumpled to the ground, unconscious. He looked over to the side and saw Kunwei standing there in a rage, "You don't hurt my brother!" he was yelling.

The teen got up, "It's okay Kunwei, let's go see if we can find a place to stay," he said and walked over to his younger brother, "and thank you."

The kid who was bullied stood up, "Wait, I think I can help you . . . want to stay over at my family's farm?"

Gang Chao nodded, "That would be nice, thank you."

"Don't mention it," the kid responded, leading the siblings down the street, "I'm Lee by the way, that guy was Gow, he used to be a really bad bully around here."

"Seems to me like he still is . . ." Gang Chao responded blandly as they walked towards the farm, "I'm Gang Chao, and these are my siblings, Kunwei and Yinling."

"Nice to meet you guys," Lee said and then looked at Kunwei, "So you're an earth bender?"

Kunwei nodded, "I'm not really good at it though, I never had a teacher."

"Oh," Lee said and then grinned, showing all his missing teeth, "Well I'm sure you'll be an awesome earthbending master one day!"

The young boy smiled at Lee, "Thanks," he replied, suddenly the sound of pig hybrids met their ears. Kunwei felt a stab of homesickness as he thought of their farm and those same animals that inhabited it. He wondered if he'd ever see the place again or if they'd ever see their dad.

"Hey, are you okay Kunwei?" the kid asked, his boyish face showing worry.

The brother nodded, "I'm fine, it's just that this place reminds me of home," he replied as he looked over the pens of pigs, "and we left home only a few days ago."

"What happened?" Lee asked.

Gang Chao answered for Kunwei, "The Fire Nation attacked it a few nights ago, we've been walking ever since."

Lee looked at them with sympathy, "The Fire Nation took my brother away from me, Gow said that his battalion was captured. My dad's been looking for him ever since."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Gang Chao replied as they reached the house, he saw the door open and a woman was silhouetted in the light that streamed from it and into the twilight.

"Lee," the woman said, "Who are these people?"

Lee introduced them and Gang Chao walked up, "If it isn't too much of a problem, we'd like a place to sleep for the night."

"Of course," the woman replied, allowing the four to walk in, "come on in," she said, "We can set you up in the barn."

**Sorry for the slightly longer delay in chapters, I've been busy with school, predicting the next major snow storm (Mid-Atlantic region may get something on Christmas) and fighting off a nasty cold. **

**Review! Reviews make the chapters come faster (though they will still come, I'm NOT holding a fanfiction hostage).**


	4. Plains Village Pt 2

The siblings laid on haystacks in the barn, Yinling was sound asleep while Kunwei and Gang Chao stayed awake, unaware that they were both still not asleep.

Finally, a small voice spoke up in the darkness of the barn, "Brother, are you still awake?"

Gang Chao turned his head to the voice, "Yeah, I am," he said as he settled into the hay more, "Anything wrong?"

"No, I'm just wondering," Kunwei said as he looked over at his brother, "why did that soldier attack Lee? I mean, Lee's just a kid, right? Why did he do that?"

"I don't know," Gang Chao responded truthfully as he turned to face the ceiling, lost in thought, "Maybe he just felt the need to bully someone."

"But it's _wrong_," Kunwei protested, and his voice rose, "I feel like we've got to do something, like get rid of that Gow guy."

"We already handled Gow," Gang Chao responded, "We shouldn't be getting too involved, you do remember that we're refugees. We hold no power in any town, everyone will look down on us or pity us. We can't change the world, Kunwei."

"You seemed to want to change the world," Kunwei shot back, he felt his blood pressure rising and his heart rate quicken. He was angry, he wanted to lash out at something, anything to make the pain of leaving his whole world behind go away.

Gang Chao sighed, "He was hurting a kid, I couldn't let that happen," he said evenly and turned on his side, "Not in front of me like that."

Suddenly, the two heard Yinling stir in her sleep, "I heard arguing, what's wrong?" she asked as she yawned.

"Nothing LingLing," Gang Chao said, using her nickname for the first time in days, "Go back to sleep."

The barn was silent after that, Gang Chao stayed wide awake though, thinking over what his brother had said to him, '_What should I do? Should I get involved with this town's affairs? What power do I have, I can't bend and I can barely fight. For goodness sakes, I'm not the Avatar!_'

He closed his eyes as tears threatened to spill over, '_I wish father were here, he'd tell me what to do,_' his thoughts stayed silent for a long time as he listened to his siblings' steady breathing, '_No matter what though, I'll protect my family, like father told me to._'

Gang Chao stayed awake a little while longer, not thinking or doing anything other than listening to the relaxed breathing that filled the small barn, slowly his eye lids slid shut. He floated in the moments between the conscious world and the subconscious before he slipped into a deep sleep, dreaming of the family he once had, and the family he has now.

_Whack!_

_Whack!_

"So what ever happened to your parents?"

_Crack! _Gang Chao's hammer came down hard on the fence post he was helping install, it wasn't totally his fault, the question caught him off guard. He quickly checked to make sure he didn't make any lasting damage to the post before turning to the kid that asked that.

"Uhh," he said to Lee as the little kid waited expectantly, "It's a long story," he finished lamely as he leaned on the newly installed fence post, he looked over the farm land, "It's a nice place you got here," he said, quickly changing the subject.

Lee nodded, "Yeah, it's pretty big," he said and looked suspiciously at Gang Chao, "Hey, you switched the subject on me."

"Yeah," Gang Chao replied a little sheepishly, "Guess I did," he said as he returned to the fence, pounding in another post, "It's not really polite to ask about a person's family," he said as he finished up the next segment of fence. He looked down at the ground and noticed there was no more wood to build the fence with.

He looked annoyed as he noticed that Kunwei wasn't back from his lumber run. He had asked his brother to buy more wood from the town so they could finish the job. Installing a new pigster pen was the least the older brother could do to repay Lee's family for allowing them to stay for a few days.

Yinling was getting along great with Lee's mother, and Lee seemed to be taking a shining to Gang Chao and Kunwei, probably because they were replacements for the brother and father he had lost.

Lee now looked at the horizon as well, "I'm pretty sure he's trying out earthbending or something," the kid said assuredly as he noticed Gang Chao's expression.

"Yeah, probably," Gang Chao replied as his stomach gave a loud grumble, he picked up the tools off the ground, "I could go for some lunch right now," he said with a small smile to Lee.

Kunwei hadn't meant to take so long to get the necessary supplies to build the fence, he had been sidetracked by a trader. A kindly man who happened to be selling scrolls on earthbending, obviously nothing was better than a master to teach the art, but scrolls were the next best thing. Kunwei couldn't afford the scrolls, they were much too expensive (the intended buyers were most likely nobles), but he could look at the pictures and read the corresponding movements.

So he asked the trader, "I'd like to look at the scroll, please," he said politely, "I want to be a great earthbender one day, but since I don't have a master . . ."

The trader chuckled, "Of course," he said as he reached into the saddle bag attached the ostrich horse and pulled out a scroll. The man obviously had a soft spot for curious children, "Let's take a look," he unraveled the parchment and held it so that he and Kunwei could see it.

Kunwei saw some moves that he recognized, and others that were completely alien to him. He saw the move that Gow had used to hurt his brother. Scrutinizing the series of movements closer, he saw that the move was meant to launch a column of earth, either to launch oneself airborne or to launch others. He unconsciously mimicked the steps, encoding them into his memory.

"I have to go," the trader said suddenly, snapping Kunwei out of his thoughts, he nodded.

He smiled, "Thanks for showing me the scroll mister," he said to the trader who smiled at him. Kunwei watched as the man left the town, going up the road, the young earthbender picked up the lumber and left down the other street, towards Lee's farm.

As he got out of sight of the town, he heard rustles in the bushes, the child stopped and glanced around warily, "Who's there?" he asked tensely as two men stepped out onto the road directly behind him, he turned around quickly, dropping the lumber save for one piece which he brandished like a stick.

"I wouldn't if I were you," another voice spoke up from behind the terrified child, a familiar voice that belonged to a corrupt Earth Kingdom soldier.

Kunwei glared as he turned around, staring at Gow, who had a nasty bruise and scrapes down one side of his face, "Leave me alone!" he yelled at Gow, who only sneered.

"Now why would I want to do that?" the bully asked, pointing towards his bruised temple, "This is what I got from you. You have to pay for assaulting a soldier of the Earth Kingdom."

Gow moved faster than Kunwei could follow, his hammers hitting the ground and sending up a wave of earth, which hit the child and launched him into the air, breaking the piece of wood in the process. Kunwei landed a few yards away, he felt bruises forming on his stomach, "Ugh," he groaned as he gripped at his injured torso.

There was movement, and out of the corner of his eye, Kunwei saw one of Gow's goons moving towards the floored child, Kunwei gripped the piece of wood still in his hand. The man moved closer and Kunwei lifted his arm and swung, the wood catching the man in the knee. The goon collapsed to the ground with a very unmanly shriek of pain. Kunwei stood up, using the wood as a crutch, he wasn't going down without a fight.

A column of dirt suddenly shot forward from underneath Kunwei, the twelve year old didn't think, he just reacted. He rolled out of the way of the column, missing it entirely as he executed the moves he saw on the scroll almost perfectly, sending a fairly respectable chunk of earth out of the ground and into Gow, who was obviously not expecting the sudden turn of events.

Gow whimpered on the ground as Kunwei seemed to tower over the corrupt soldier, glaring at him with cold eyes. Footsteps sounded behind the earthbender, but he didn't seem to notice as he was locked in a one-sided staring contest with the cowardly soldier.

"Kunwei," Gang Chao said seriously from behind him, "What happened?"

Kunwei turned to Gang Chao, "They jumped me," he said harshly, glaring at Gow, "The guy jumped me!" he shouted angrily as he aimed a kick at the groveling soldier.

A hand on the kid's shoulder stopped him, Kunwei looked up to see Gang Chao staring coldly at him, "_No_," the teen said as he pulled his brother back roughly, "Kick a man while he's down, and you'll be as low as he is," he said as he guided Kunwei back towards the farm, where Lee stood.

"But," Kunwei started to protest, looking incredibly confused at how Gang Chao was acting.

The older brother shook his head, "No," he said, interrupting the child before he could even protest, he looked at Lee, "I'm afraid we've outstayed our welcome here," he said stoically, "We're leaving."

Lee looked downcast, "You can't leave," he said sadly, "I'll miss you guys," he finished as he looked up at them.

"Sorry," Gang Chao said as he knelt down so he was at eye level with Lee, "Be strong for your family," he said as he placed a firm hand on Lee's shoulder, "Don't ever lose hope."

And with that, Gang Chao was off once more, arriving at the farm and explaining the situation to the mother.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Gang Chao said as he bowed deeply to Lee's mother, "I wish you and your son luck."

"I wish you three luck too," the mother said as she handed them a few water skins and some food and supplies for their journey. Gang Chao smiled a little and nodded, packing the skins and food into his pack.

And with that, the three siblings left, walking on the road towards Ba Sing Se once more.


	5. Beaten

Kunwei was silent and gloomy for the rest of the day, not even speaking to his siblings, he sulked in the rear as Gang Chao and Yinling walked side by side. Once in a while, the sister would look back with a confused expression in her wide, brown eyes, her seven year old mind not comprehending the reasons behind the brother's estrangement. Kunwei stared back stoically, not indicating the reason behind his sudden streak of silence.

Finally, they stopped by the side of the road as night fell, Gang Chao silently and calmly building a small fire, striking spark stones that created sparks that fell onto the kindling. The fire soon grew as he added larger pieces of wood from the dry bushes that surrounded him.

"You can't be angry with me forever," the older brother finally spoke up, looking at Kunwei, "We couldn't stay there, that village was struggling as it already was, and you're being attacked by the people there. Ba Sing Se's our only hope," he finished as he stoked the fire with a thicker branch, putting half a loaf of bread on a rock to warm.

Kunwei made a sound that seemed like a snort, "Whatever," he said quietly as he drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them, wrapping his arms around his legs and staring blankly at the fire.

His brother sighed, "You'll understand," he said as he ripped a chunk of bread out of the loaf and handed it to the sister, he tore the remaining bread in two and handed the larger piece to his sulking brother, "Better get some sleep," he suggested as they ate their meager meal, "You've got second watch tonight."

"Why do we need watches?" Kunwei asked tartly, scowling as he looked away from the fire and let his eyes adjust to the dark landscape.

Gang Chao raised an eyebrow, "You're seriously asking that?" he retorted curtly, "We're on an empty road in the middle of nowhere, far from any help and you're asking why we're watching the camp?"

The younger brother sighed, understanding Gang Chao's meaning, he laid down, facing away from the fire. Not even saying "good night" to his brother.

It was childish, the anger Kunwei felt towards his brother. Gang Chao was doing his best to keep his own world (what was left of it anyway) from falling apart into a thousand unrecognizable pieces. Still, Kunwei felt wronged by the sudden harshness Gang Chao exhibited, instead of spending a night relatively safe and sound in a barn, they were shivering on the ground just off of a road that may or may not be crawling with bandits. Bandits that would very likely take on three kids to get what they want.

Kunwei was also feeling the fresh wound of losing everything he held dear to him, his home, his belongings, his father. Everything but his siblings was gone, burned or left behind. He curled up into a tight ball as his eyes slowly slid shut, his mind plagued by the images of his home burning and the image of his father leaving.

Gang Chao looked at Kunwei as he settled in for watch, the night grew dark and cold quickly as the fire burned down to a few red embers. The teen leaned back on his satchel, staring up at the innumerable stars in the sky before his eyes swept the empty plains around him, his ears straining to pick up any noise. It was silent except for the relaxed breathing of his siblings, he looked back at the two silhouettes of his siblings, he noticed Yinling shivering, so he reached into his sack, taking out a clean tunic and draping it over the young child.

Kunwei muttered in his sleep, it sounded like "dad", but the elder brother couldn't have been sure, he looked at his sibling with a softer expression. They were all suffering, it was painful to see his family in such a bedraggled and poorly state. Suddenly, Kunwei thrashed around in his sleep, grunting.

"No," the younger brother finally said as he rolled over, "No!"

Kunwei was locked in a nightmare, his worst fears coming true in the realms of his subconscious. He saw his father, in chains and working in the dark mines, falling under the blows of the fire bender with the skull-like face. He saw the farm, burned and destroyed so nothing but scorched earth remained . . . and the smoldering foundation of the place he once called home. He saw his friends, miserable and weeping as they were carted off to an unknown location. He saw the village elder, his body covered in burns and gaping up at the sky, eyes unfocused, face sunken and his heart beating no longer.

Then he saw the same Fire Nation soldier, the one who had threatened his village, chasing him down, he tried to run, but the soldier was moving quickly, too quickly for him to get away. Kunwei suddenly tripped, falling off a cliff and into the black abyss that laid ahead.

"Wake up Kunwei! It's just a dream," someone shouted, quickly bringing the earthbender into the world of the conscious.

"Ah!" Kunwei sat up abruptly, Gang Chao fell backwards, startled at the sudden awakening.

The older brother got into a sitting position by Kunwei, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, you were just having a bad dream," Gang Chao reassured his gasping brother, "You're okay, you're okay."

Kunwei sat for a few seconds, catching his breath as flashbacks from his dream soon played in his mind like a hellish slideshow. Tears stung at his eyes as he saw the images of his father, miserable and whipped by the evil tyranny of the Fire Nation. He began to cry, his shoulders shaking with an attempt to suppress his sobs as his brother hugged him tightly.

"It's going to be okay," Gang Chao soothed as he patted his brother on the back, "We'll be alright."

"What about dad?" Kunwei asked quietly after a few minutes, calming down enough to talk in coherent sentences, "He's not alright, is he?"

"All we can do is hope," the older brother replied truthfully, "I'll let you get a little more sleep before your watch," he added softly as he looked at the moon, high in the sky.

Kunwei shook his head, "I don't think I can sleep," he said as he moved so he sat cross-legged on the ground, "I can take over watch."

Gang Chao nodded, he yawned a little as he settled down, "Keep a good lookout," he said as he rested his head on his pack, "Wake me if you need me," he murmured as he slipped off into a deep sleep.

Kunwei sat up straight, his back to the dying fire as he waited out the dark and cool night.

* * *

The morning came quickly, dawn painting the sky with soft tones of red and orange, the sun peeking over the horizon and bathing the world in glorious light and warmth. Kunwei stretched and cracked his neck, getting rid of the stiffness that plagued him as he spent the night on the ground. Dark circles were under his eyes, signifying that he hardly had a good night's sleep between the nightmare world of his subconscious and staying up for half the night.

Gang Chao stoked the fire and rekindled it, heating up some scraps of meat for breakfast, "We have to make this last until the next town over," he said as he pulled out the map, "It should be two days walk from here," he rubbed his chin as he pored over the map.

"Great, two days of walking," Kunwei sighed and took a bite out of the tough meat, "How much further to Ba Sing Se?"

"A couple week's journey," Gang Chao said, calculating the mileage to Ba Sing Se, "We can spend a few days at the next town over, our money situation's pretty good and we can get more than enough supplies for the next leg."

Kunwei's eyes narrowed, "Why not go through there?" he said, pointing at the large desert that dominated part of the map, "It would cut down on a lot of our time."

"That's a desert," the brother replied matter-of-factly, "Kind of hard to you know . . . travel there. We'd end up walking in circles, getting lost or dying of thirst. Trust me, we're better off travelling around the desert and heading to Ba Sing Se that way, even though it will take a little longer."

"So we go around," Kunwei concluded, nodding to himself, "So are we going now?"

Gang Chao nodded and got up, taking his pack with him, it had gotten noticeably lighter in the past few days, a mix of him getting used to the weight and the fact that they were eating all the food in it. He made a mental note to begin rationing the food more strictly.

They began walking, the rising sun warming the air and drying the already hard, arid ground beneath them. It was a long day and they walked alone, sometimes passing a few traders and fellow refugees, but none of them stuck around too long until . . .

"Hey, you're refugees right?" someone asked the trio as they walked down the path.

Gang Chao turned around to see a group of men approaching them, he nodded, "Yeah, we are," he said as he shifted his weight a little, he was a little suspicious of the men and kept his guard up.

The man smiled, "We are too," he said as he motioned to his group, "We're headed to Ba Sing Se, I bet you guys are too, right?"

"Yeah," Gang Chao replied slowly, "We're headed there."

"Excellent," one of the other men said quickly as they rushed the trio so quickly, it was too fast for them to react.

Gang Chao suddenly found himself face down in the dirt, a knife being pressed to the back of his neck.

"Now we're going to take all your stuff, knock you out and leave you here," the man whispered in Gang Chao's ear, "Sweet dreams," he said cheerfully and used the hilt of his knife to knock out the teenage brother.

"NO!" Kunwei yelled as he was forced to the ground by the group of thieves, the last thing he remembered was a shoe coming at his head, then he knew no more . . . .

* * *

It was dark when Kunwei woke up, Gang Chao looking down on him worriedly, "Are you okay?" he asked as he helped his brother sit up, handing him a water skin, it was the only one they had left.

Kunwei took a small sip, groaning as the shapes of everything around him became less blurry, "Fine," he muttered weakly, "What happened, where are we?"

"We're still on the trail, I just moved us a little ways up the road," Gang Chao said as he laid Kunwei down again, "Take it easy, you took a big hit."

"Sorry," Kunwei muttered, "I couldn't protect you guys, I was weak . . ."

"It's okay," Gang Chao comforted, patting Kunwei's shoulder lightly, "It was me who was supposed to do the protecting, if anyone's to blame, it was me," he sighed as he stared up at the night sky, "I should have been stronger."

"What did they take?" Kunwei questioned, trying hard to stay awake for just a little while longer.

Gang Chao looked down at his brother, closing his eyes solemnly and saying, "Everything," he looked up at the starry sky then, not wanting to look his sibling in the eye, "All we have left is our map, a copper piece and my knife."

Kunwei was silent then, his stomach growled, demanding food that it wouldn't get, a few tears pricked his eyes, "How much further till the next town?"

"A few miles," Gang Chao said as he looked down at his brother again, "Get some sleep, we'll be starting off early tomorrow," he then laid on the ground next to Yinling, settling in for the night.

Kunwei raised an eyebrow, "What about watch? What if we get attacked by bandits?"

"We don't have anything left for them to take," Gang Chao replied with a hopeless tone, "Let them come, they won't be bothering us anymore."

Finally, Kunwei couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, he slowly succumbed to the call of sleep, but his dreams were far from happy. Gang Chao was awake for a little while longer, angry at himself for not being able to take down the bandits, hating himself for being so weak.

* * *

**Crap Chapter! Sorry, nothing really happened and the "fight scene" was more like they just got their butts kicked. But no worries, next chapter is when awesome things start happening, like the Kyoshi Warriors. **


	6. The Kyoshi Warriors

**Alright, the next action packed installment of "The Lives That We've Lost", sorry, I promised Friday night, and right now it's 2 am . . . Saturday. Uhhhh. I can explain! I was doing school work, I've begun working out so I can learn Aikido (the Kyoshi Warriors use Aikido) and then my shoulder first was like, "Alright, I'll work with you." 5 minutes later, "Haha, jk," and it nearly dislocates. **

**Yep . . . eventful week.**

**

* * *

**

The next morning, the siblings rose quietly, Yinling sniffled a little from the pain in her stomach, but she quickly quieted down, they began walking.

The sun fell harshly on their skin, the hot rays beating down on them and causing them to sweat profusely. A few hours later, they weren't walking, they were staggering, hunger and dehydration taking its toll on their bodies. If there was a point to lose hope, this was it.

'_We'll never reach Ba Sing Se,_' Kunwei thought gloomily as he shuffled forward, one step at a time, '_Never_.'

"We're almost to the next town," Gang Chao said as he pointed to the road sign pointing to the next place on the map, "We'll be there in an hour, come on."

* * *

They soon reached and walked through the busy town, stomachs growling, feet tired and throats dry. Kunwei groaned, "Can't we get something to eat brother?"

"I already told you," Gang Chao replied evenly, "we barely have enough money, we're going to need to get more before we can eat."

Yinling sniffled a bit as her stomach growled loudly once more, Kunwei looked greedily at the foods hanging from the rafters of the stalls, he only needed a distraction . . .

It came in the form of a brawl, a hapless peasant had bumped into a mean spirited man and they were now in the middle of a large crowd.

"Apologize, immediately peasant," the large man said angrily, "You have no right to bump into me like that!"

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't see you there," the peasant bowed and pleaded in an apologetic voice. The poor man was sweating bullets and shaking visibly.

All the merchants by now had their eyes on the scene and not on their stalls, none of them noticed a small pair of hands reaching up and grabbing the food that sat on the edge. Kunwei grabbed the food and quickly ran off, only to have a hand grab the collar of his shirt and prevent him from taking off.

"What gives?" he asked as he looked up to see his assailant, he saw a painted face and green robes, he noticed that the hand that grabbed him was shrouded in a tough fabric.

"Thought you could get away with stealing, huh?" the figure asked as she pulled him upright, Gang Chao ran over to the two, glaring at the warrior for a second before looking down at Kunwei and his hands filled with the food.

The glare was quickly transferred to the younger brother, "Kunwei, how did you get that food?"

"Do you know him?" the woman asked the teenager as she stiffly escorted him back to the merchant's stall where the crime had taken place. Gang Chao sighed as he held Yinling's hand.

"Yes, he's my younger brother . . . and in big trouble," he said and looked down at Kunwei, "Why did you steal food?"

"Cause we didn't have any left to eat," Kunwei argued, "It's not like we have money or anything!"

Gang Chao closed his eyes and sighed, "We were going to get money," he replied holding out a scroll, "A man gave me some copper pieces to deliver a message to the next town over."

Kunwei looked at the ground, ashamed of himself for his behavior, they arrived at the stall where the young earthbender returned the food to the merchant, articulating an apology at Gang Chao's prodding. The merchant glared down in response but accepted the apology nonetheless, "Perhaps you can make up your inexcusable behavior by sweeping the shop," he said, thrusting a broom into Kunwei's hands, "Come on now . . . I'm waiting."

Kunwei walked into the shop and began sweeping the ground, Gang Chao looked over at the warrior, "I'm sorry my brother had to bother you like that, I apologize for the waste of time we caused you."

"It wasn't entirely a waste of time," the warrior pointed out, "It's our duty to protect the towns and people who live in them."

Gang Chao smiled, but the grin quickly disappeared as he stared at his brother who was still sweeping the shop, "I don't know what got into him, we were desperate but not enough to steal," he said frowning, "I never wanted any of this to happen."

The warrior looked up at him with her blue eyes, seemingly understanding, but Kunwei walked up before she could say anything. He looked up at the warrior with his brown eyes, "Sorry for troubling you," he said as he bowed respectfully, "It'll never happen again."

"It better not," the woman replied admonishingly.

He nodded, looking at the ground now, the shop keeper crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't want to see you around my stall, alright kid?"

"Yes sir," Kunwei said, abashed he silently followed Gang Chao out of the store.

They left the town, there being no places with vacancies, the place was already packed with refugees and traders alike. Gang Chao set up camp a mile or so away from the town, he started a small fire and cooked some of the food he had bought before Kunwei had been caught stealing. The silence around the fire was steely, Gang Chao not knowing how to react to his brother's thievery.

"I'm sorry," Kunwei spoke up finally, his voice was apologetic, he looked up at his brother, ashamed, "I shouldn't have done it."

The elder brother sighed, "Why did you do it then?"

"We were hungry, we didn't have any money," Kunwei shrugged, studying the flames that licked the branches fueling the small fire, "We were desperate."

"But not desperate enough to steal," Gang Chao said, his voice rising a little, "That was stupid Kunwei, we would have been fine without you stealing. It was wrong," he finished as he stared at Kunwei.

Kunwei poked the fire with a long branch, he was silent for a moment until, "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"Not mad, just disappointed," Gang Chao corrected as he served his brother and sister food, "I know that everything was looking hopeless but we can't lose who we are. Dad wouldn't want us stealing."

Kunwei nodded, smiling a little at his sister who had a look of glee on her face as she ate the small meal. It wasn't much but it was a lot better than having nothing to eat for a whole day. Darkness settled over the camp soon after, the flickering light of the fire illuminating only a few foot radius.

"Come on, time to get some shut eye," Gang Chao said as he sat against a tree, "I'll take first watch," he said.

Kunwei nodded, "Alright, see you in a few hours," he said as he laid next to the dying fire, trying to get some warmth from the embers. They had lost their sleeping bags and blankets in the robbery, all they had was the clothes on their backs and the small amount of food Gang Chao had bought.

Gang Chao watched as his brother and sister slept, after a few minutes of keeping vigilant watch, the long walk of the day had caught up to him, he could barely keep his eyes open. He tried to stay awake . . . but the peace of the night time forest soon overpowered him, his eyes slowly shut . . .

* * *

The moon shone brightly in the darkened skies, Kunwei tried hard to get some sleep, but he felt exposed as they slept on the path. He berated himself for being scared, they had slept on the path before and Gang Chao was keeping watch. Still, something about tonight felt . . . he didn't know . . . off. He turned over on his side, back towards the fire, and looked at the dark trees.

A wind blew, sending shivers down his spine as the leaves rustled and the trees groaned. Why did everything seem so wrong this time?

Suddenly there was a rustle in the branches and Kunwei sat up abruptly, a dark shape rushed towards him and he was about to yell out when something hit him hard and knocked him to the ground. He glared at the thug that pinned him to the ground and kept him from talking.

Gang Chao quickly got up and began fighting the thugs that surrounded them, "Kunwei! Yinling! RUN!"

'_That piece of information may have been helpful _five minutes ago_,_' Kunwei thought as the thug lifted him to his feet and held his arms tightly around his back.

One of the thugs picked up a handful of dirt and threw it in Gang Chao's eyes, the teen grunted as he became blinded. Another one took that chance to hit him over the head with a rock, effectively knocking him out.

"BROTHER!" Kunwei shouted and kicked the man holding him in the shin, he broke free and began to run towards his fallen sibling, "Why you little!" he yelled as he bull rushed his assailants.

Kunwei was forced to the ground by one of the thugs, while the other one, obviously the leader, grabbed a hold of Yinling, "We'll take your sister here," he sneered.

"Let my sister go!" Kunwei shouted at the top of his lungs before a hand clamped over his mouth. He bit the hand . . . hard.

"Rrrghhhh!" the thug yelled and let Kunwei go for a second before another one grabbed a hold of him.

"Shut up boy, know your place! Your brother isn't here to protect you," the leader growled as he tightened his grip on Yinling's wrist, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Brother, help me!" she screeched loudly, a look of fear etched on her face.

The leader slapped Yinling full on across the face, "Be quiet, no one's protecting you now," he sneered, "Thanks for your sister," he grinned maliciously, "we'll sell her to a _real_ nice slave master over the river."

Kunwei struggled futilely to get free of the thug's grasp but to no avail, he suddenly stopped as he heard a peculiar whistling noise followed by a dull thud. The thug's grip loosened and he groaned and fell over, a bruise forming on his temple where a small rock had collided with it. Suddenly a fissure opened in the ground and another thug fell into it, yelling out in surprise.

An elongated object was launched and hit another enemy in the chest, he fell over and groaned. Even more of the gang were pulled into the shadows and subdued. Soon the leader and two of his cronies remained, staying in a tight group.

"What's going on here?" the leader yelled as he held Yinling closer to him, "Show yourselves or the girl's going to get it!"

Suddenly, dark shapes dropped from the trees and landed softly on the ground, another figure emerged from the bushes in a battle stance. Kunwei noted the stance and the fact that some of the thugs were taken down by a familiar art.

"An earthbender," he said to himself, he was distracted quickly by the scene in front of him. He saw the dark shapes surrounding the thugs and moving in closer, being illuminated in the moonlight. He recognized them as the group of warriors that they had met in town.

One of them stepped forward, "Let go of the girl and surrender, we don't want to hurt you," the warrior said, holding up a hand that was obviously a signal for her warriors to not move. Kunwei could see that she was the leader and the woman who had kept him from getting away after stealing the food.

"Never!" the leader replied, "Do you think I'm intimidated by women? Even if they are the Kyoshi Warriors? Let me pass or the girl dies."

Yinling looked fearfully at the knife the leader unsheathed and pressed to her neck, showing that he wasn't kidding. A brief but tense standoff ensued, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors standing firm and locked in a battle of wills with the desperate leader of the bandits.

Suddenly the Kyoshi warrior stood down and ordered her troops to do so as well, the leader sneered in victory and let his guard down for just a fraction of a second . . .

"Rahhh!" Gang Chao got up from his place in the dirt and caught the leader in a headlock with one arm while pushing the knife away with the other, slicing his hand deeply in the process. His head spun from the injuries but he held onto the leader. They both hit the ground and Gang Chao tightened his chokehold, wrapping his legs around the leader's waist and keeping the man off balance.

Chaos erupted as the two other thugs moved to free their leader but were met by the Kyoshi warriors instead, the battle ended fairly quickly after that. Kunwei ran to Yinling and held her tight, comforting her.

The leader, caught in a chokehold for so long, fell unconscious and Gang Chao relaxed his grip and stood up. Breathing heavy between words, he glared at the leader, "Don't . . . ever . . . steal," before he lost all control of his body and passed out on the ground.

The last thing he heard before unconsciousness was his brother calling his name loudly. Then darkness took over.


	7. Training

**Sorry I haven't updated in two weeks, between the midterms and recovering from skiing and working on my website and . . . ugh, yeah, I have a lot on my plate right now, lol. So here we go, the next chapter!

* * *

**

Gang Chao's hand hurt, really hurt, he was floating in a sea of blackness and all he was really aware of was the mild, no, major discomfort in his hand. Soon though, the pain ebbed and he became aware of other things, the rustling of fabric, the soft padding beneath him.

He hear voices, muffled as if they were blocked by swatches of fabric, but soon they became clearer and he recognized some of this voices. There was the worried tone of his brother and the calm tone of the warrior he had met in the village.

"Will he wake up?" Kunwei asked anxiously, if not a bit impatiently.

A new voice drifted to his ears, another woman, "Calm down, he'll wake up when he's ready to. His body needs to heal."

Gang Chao struggled against the blackness, fighting the realms of his unconscious mind that held him in its dark grip. He managed a groan and he heard his brother give a startled yelp.

"He's waking up," the sibling started excitedly.

There was a flurry of activity as someone came up to his side, "Yeah, he's coming around," the woman said.

His eyes slowly opened, finally allowing him to see the world his other senses had explored, he quickly blinked away the disorientation brought about by the unconsciousness. He stared at the relieved face of his brother and the painted face of one of the Kyoshi warriors, it wasn't the one he met in the village. This woman looked the same age but her hair was black, not brown and her head dress looked a lot different.

"I thought you'd never wake up," Kunwei started happily, smiling now that he knew his brother was okay.

Gang Chao raised an eyebrow, "How long was I out?" he muttered weakly.

The warrior answered, "For a few hours."

Funny, the way Kunwei was reacting, it sounded like he was unconscious for a few _years_. He examined his surroundings, he was lying in a small clearing, it was daylight, probably around noon. All around the small field, the warriors were either foraging for food or setting up camp. The earthbender brought up walls of rock to serve as windbreaks for the tent.

He tried to set up, ignoring the pain that returned to his throbbing hand. A hand reached out cautiously to support him if he fell back, "Take it easy, you lost a lot of blood," the warrior stated.

"Where's Yinling? Is she okay? Are _you_ okay?" Gang Chao looked over at his brother, he didn't look too injured, a few bruises were blossoming across his cheek and there was a long scrape on his forehead.

Kunwei nodded, "She's fine, she's asleep in one of the tents."

Gang Chao sighed in relief, smiling a little, so he hadn't failed completely at protecting his family, "What about the bandits that attacked us?"

"We took them back to the town and let the authorities handle their punishment," the warrior piped up, "I'm Akira by the way."

"Hi," Gang Chao extended his good hand, "I'm Gang Chao but I'm guessing my brother already told you that."

Akira smiled, "Yeah, he did," she giggled a little, "How's your hand?"

"It doesn't hurt too much," Gang Chao said, looking at the clean white bandage that was wrapped firmly around his hand, "It feels almost comfortable."

The warrior nodded in satisfaction, "Good, that's how it's supposed to feel," she said as one of her comrades walked up, "Go tell Suki that he's awake," she ordered the other warrior, her voice laden with authority.

"Who's Suki?" Gang Chao questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"She's the leader of our team, the Kyoshi Warriors," Akira explained as she handed him a cup of hot liquid, "Here, it's some tea to help with the pain."

"Thanks," Gang Chao said as he sipped the hot beverage, "Are you a healer?"

Akira gave him a wan smile, "Something like that, I'm the unofficial team medic and also second in command."

Suki walked up at that moment, Gang Chao smiled, "Thanks for saving us," he thanked the Kyoshi warrior.

"It was nothing," Suki replied, "We're obligated to protect citizens of the Earth Kingdom."

"So, who are the Kyoshi Warriors anyway?" Gang Chao questioned, being raised in a small village, he never heard much about the Earth Kingdom and its many towns and cities.

Kunwei meanwhile had left his brother's side to check on his sister and explore the camp. He walked around the small encampment, coming face-to-face with the earthbender who had helped the warriors.

"Hey," he said in greeting to the stern-faced master who was currently practicing his forms at the edge of the field.

The man nodded in acknowledgement, "Good afternoon," he said as he replaced his headband which had come a little loose during his practice, "Is your brother okay?"

"He's fine," Kunwei said, "Thanks for saving us sir," he added.

"It was nothing, and the Kyoshi warriors did most of the work, I just offered a little assistance," the bender replied as he began to walk back to camp.

Kunwei caught up, "Wait! I need to ask you something!"

The man turned to face the young boy, eyebrows raising in curiousity, "Yes?"

"I," Kunwei began before he got onto his hands and knees and bowed to the earthbender, "I want to learn earthbending from you. Please teach me sir."

The man was silent for a few long moments, seemingly pondering something, Kunwei stayed as he was, not daring to look up at the man lest he refuse then and there. Kunwei was nervous, he tried hard to control his breathing and keep his racing thoughts from straying too far.

"Well," the man started after a long while, his voice thoughtful if not a little teasing.

Kunwei gritted his teeth, waiting for the scathing rebuke and fast refusal of learning earthbending. He closed his eyes in defeat . . .

"I guess we should get started then," the man finished, he smiled and crossed his arms as Kunwei as he looked up in surprise, "Well, come on, show me what you know."

Kunwei grinned and jumped up quickly, getting into his stance, he kicked up small stones and raised a relatively puny column a few feet away, "I really only learned enough to hurl rocks and maybe raise a column or two, then I get tired," he admitted sheepishly.

"We have a lot of work to do then," the man said seriously, he motioned for Kunwei to sit on the ground, "My name is Shuu but you will address me as Master Shuu, Master or Sir. What is your name?"

"My name's Kunwei," the boy began, then noting the look on Shuu's face, he added, "Sir."

Shuu nodded, "Alright, now let me start you on the bare basics of earthbending. Each of the nations has their own element and their own element reflects a certain philosophy," he began, "For example, firebenders are aggressive and direct, so their form requires a lot of punches and kicks. Waterbenders use more flowing movements, this is because their form of fighting is more about using an opponent's force against them. Airbenders are all about non-aggressive forms of fighting, this requires quick and agile movements to avoid an attack by the enemy. Now, in earthbending, the bender must stand his or her ground, you must become like the earth," he got into a stance.

"Now your forms are good for a beginner but they're nowhere near as strong enough," he said as he levitated a large boulder, he moved it several feet over and set it down gently on the ground, "The more solid your stance, the better chance you have of lifting large objects. But this is only part of the story, earthbenders must build up stamina to master the art. Kunwei."

"Yes sir," Kunwei answered as he head snapped up to look at his master.

"I want you to do twenty pushups, eighty sit ups and thirty squats," Shuu said as he turned to face the forest, staring at his pupil out of the corner of his eye.

Kunwei gave him an, "are you serious?" look, but began doing so he lowered himself on to the ground and pushed up.

"Count them," Shuu said.

"One . . . two . . . three . . ." Kunwei said as he counted out his pushups, his arms burned and even his heart was pounding from the exertion, he'd never thought that this would be so hard, but he could barely pass ten pushups, let alone twenty.

"You can do it," the master said stoically, "You _must_ do it to even understand the roots of earthbending, you must endure the pain, stamina and determination are crucial to earthbending."

Kunwei finally got up to twenty pushups, counting each one as he completed them, he moved onto the sit ups then gritting his teeth at the burning sensation in his stomach. Shuu nodded in approval as Kunwei finished the set, moving onto squats. He wouldn't say the exercises were easy but they weren't as hard as he'd imagine they'd be, he guessed working on a farm did have its perks. He was impatient though, he wanted to learn _earthbending_ he wanted to levitate boulders in the air and fling them far distances, he wanted to open large fissures in the ground and raise huge columns of rock.

Suddenly, the earth shifted under Kunwei, literally shifted, it was only a small amount and if he was concentrating, perhaps he would have kept his balance, but he fell flat on his back, yelling out in surprise.

"_Pay attention to your surroundings_," Shuu said harshly, "You won't be a good earthbender if you're not all there," he said tapping his head, "An earthbender who attacks blindly without cause or thought will _lose_ against one who _listens_. Now pick yourself up and start the squats again, from the beginning and. Don't. Lose. Focus."

Kunwei got off the ground, he suppressed a groan and began squats again, "One . . . two . . . three . . . "

* * *

Later that night, the group sat around the fire, Gang Chao sat with the group, his arm in a sling just to keep it out of the way so he could eat. Yinling and one of the Kyoshi Warriors were in a conversation, it was the most Kunwei had ever seen his sister talk since they left home. He smiled, it was a good sign.

Gang Chao was telling something to Akira, she giggled at the end of it and the older brother looked down, a little color creeping to his cheeks. Kunwei smirked from across the fire until he heard his master talking to him, his attention shifted from the fire to Shuu.

"Training never stops, even when you're taking 'a break'," he began, his gaze shifting over to Kunwei, "There are still exercises you can accomplish without my help. Observation of everything around you is important for helping you win a fight. Do you understand?"

"Yes master," Kunwei replied, even hours after he had begun calling Shuu an earthbending master, the excitement of finally being taught was still flowing through his veins.

"Good, now I want you to be vigilant and begin to learn about everyone in this camp, observe their habits, analyze their strengths and weaknesses. They're not our enemies but this exercise will be good for training so you can analyze the people who are against us," Shuu said, "Part of earthbending is waiting . . . and listening, calculating the best time to attack and once there's an opening, you strike."

Kunwei nodded, noting the group around the fire, he still didn't exactly know what to look for, he was about to open his mouth when Shuu spoke up, "You can't rely on me for answers, I am your teacher, your guide, but some things you have to figure out yourself. Just sit back and observe."

The young boy sighed, he could have sworn he saw the corners of Shuu's mouth curve upwards slightly, but his gaze and attention soon reverted back to the group around the fire.

* * *

"So how was your first day of training?" Gang Chao asked as they bedded down for the night, he laid on his back, looking to Kunwei, his injured hand resting comfortably on his chest.

The younger brother groaned, "I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of ostrich-horses," he said as the tiredness hit him like a landslide, "Never went past anything but basic forms and stamina."

"Sounds tough," Yinling piped in quietly.

Kunwei smiled as he grabbed her in a half hug, "Yeah, it is, I thought he'd be teaching me how to make landslides by now."

"Maybe there's a method to his madness," Gang Chao offered, "Maybe he wants you to have a solid foundation in the basics before he moves on. Remember what dad always said, 'You can build the largest house in the world, but it won't mean nothing without a good foundation'."

Kunwei and Yinling snickered at that memory, "Yeah," Kunwei said, yawning, "Dad always knew what to say."

"He still does," Gang Chao replied, his eyes glinting in determination, "We'll get through this war and we'll get back."

The siblings soon bedded down and fell asleep, Kunwei gratefully falling into the realms of the subconscious as he rested for the next day of training that was sure to follow. Yinling stayed awake for a little while longer, thinking of home before finally allowing sleep to take over. Gang Chao closed his eyes, but he didn't sleep, not yet. His mind was filled with the events of the past two days, he had failed to protect his family _twice_.

Twice, they could have been killed. Twice they could have been beaten so badly, they'd hardly have a chance to get to Ba Sing Se.

His good hand curled into a fist at his side, two times was two too many, he resolved to get better and train so in the future, he could protect his family. As his mind finally gave into sleep, he thought, '_I'll protect my family, whatever it takes_.'


End file.
